Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a development next to Mrs X’s home. This is because she has not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s actions when dealing with the first planning application. There is also no evidence fault in how the Council dealt with a second application for the same development.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council granted planning permission for a development next to her home. Mrs X says the planning application includes land she owns, submitted plans were not to scale and the development poses a flood risk to her home.
2. Mrs X says the Council’s failings have caused her significant distress and unnecessary time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
4. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and information about relevant planning applications on the Council’s website.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council received a planning application for the development complained of in mid 2020. The Council reached a decision on the application in September 2020. Mrs X purchased a property neighbouring the development in November 2020.
8. Mrs X has not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the development in September 2020. We would expect anyone buying a residential property to carry out necessary checks before buying. This includes local area searches which would reveal any nearby planning applications. People selling residential properties also complete a property information form which asks about nearby development. Mrs X should have been aware of the planning application prior to moving into the property via the conveyancing process. She bought her property after planning permission was granted and so she has not been caused an injustice as a result of the Council’s actions.
9. A later planning application was submitted. This sought to vary the approved plans to include gabion baskets along a water course. The Council granted planning permission. There were no objections from bodies responsible for local drainage and flooding issues. Therefore there is no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision to grant planning permission.
10. Mrs X says part of her land was included within the plans submitted by the applicant. The Council considered plans submitted by Mrs X as well as information from the applicant. The Council decided to proceed as there was no clear evidence the land belonged to Mrs X and there was proposal to carry out work on the area in question. The Council is not required to resolve any disputes but must satisfy itself that information submitted in relation to a planning application is accurate. As the disputed land is not being developed there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to grant planning permission.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has not been caused an injustice because of the Council’s actions in relation to the first planning application. There is also no evidence of fault in how the Council reached a decision to grant planning permission for the second application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman